Find out how popular the last name Shimura is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Shimura.

Shimura, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Shimura surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Shimura in America

Shimura is the 134712th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Shimura surname appeared 125 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Shimura.

We can also compare 2010 data for Shimura to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Shimura

The surname SHIMURA is of Japanese origin, dating back to the late 8th century AD. It is believed to have originated from the Shimura region in the Yamagata Prefecture, located in northern Japan. The name is derived from the Japanese words "shima" meaning "island" and "mura" meaning "village," likely referring to a village on an island or near the coast.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the SHIMURA surname can be found in the Shoku Nihongi, an imperial chronicle of ancient Japan completed in 797 AD. The text mentions a family named SHIMURA who resided in the Shimura area during the late Nara period (710-794 AD).

The SHIMURA name has been associated with various historical figures throughout Japanese history. One notable example is Shimura Kanjiro (1828-1897), a prominent Meiji-era politician and diplomat who served as the Japanese ambassador to Germany and Russia.

Another influential figure with the SHIMURA surname was Shimura Kan (1824-1910), a renowned artist and ukiyo-e woodblock print designer who helped popularize the Kacho-ga genre, which depicted birds and flowers.

In the realm of literature, Shimura Hakumin (1904-1994) was a celebrated Japanese poet and author, known for his contributions to the modernist literary movement. His works, such as "The Windswept Years," explored themes of isolation and existentialism.

During the Edo period (1603-1867), the SHIMURA name was also associated with several prominent samurai families. One such family was the Shimura clan, which served as retainers to the powerful Tokugawa Shogunate.

A more recent figure with the SHIMURA surname is Shimura Takashi (1948-2020), a renowned Japanese voice actor who lent his talents to numerous anime and video game productions, including the iconic role of Goku in the "Dragon Ball" series.

While the SHIMURA surname has its roots in Japan, it has since spread globally due to migration and marriage, with individuals bearing this name found in various parts of the world.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Shimura

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Shimura.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Shimura was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Shimura has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Shimura was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Shimura, please contact us.

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